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Government representative at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has stated that land administration challenges confronting the country is more troubling to him than the illegal small-scale mining the state is fighting.
According to Mr. Jinapor, it is so because “the impact or consequence of an inefficient land administration which is not anchored on integrity or economic development is enormous”.
He made this statement on Ghana Television’s (GTV) Breakfast show on January 18, 2022, a programme monitored by Angelonline.com.gh.
The minister’s worry arose out of the ordeals prospective land owners go through as a result of the system practiced in Ghana where ownership of the lands is in the hands of different groups and institutions including stools, clans, schemes, the state and individuals.
This heterogeneous ownership system, Mr. Jinapor indicated, makes the land and the acquisition process liable to litigation issues which has been the bane of people’s lives.
The Member of Parliament for Damongo Constituency therefore believes that digitizing the records of the sector is the most appropriate remedy, since it has been the “biggest item” on his table.
“I have been on top of the matter for the time I have been Minister for Land and I’m conclusively convinced that that will be the panacea to resolving the land tenure and land administration of the country”, he said.
In effect, he noted that records at the Lands Commission have been consolidated and that a prospective land owner would not find varying reports on a parcel of land when he or she goes to the three divisions of the Commission− Public & Vested Land Management Division (PVLMD), Land Registration Division (LRD) & Survey & Mapping Division (SMD).
Meanwhile, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Mr. James E.K. Dadson, had indicated in a communique issued on September 23, 2021 that all applications for searches would be submitted online through https://onlineservices.lc.gov.gh
“However, clients who visit the Client Service Access Unit (CSAU) of the Lands Commission will be assisted to submit the applications online” the statement added.
According to Mr. Dadson, the public can visit the Lands Commission website at https://www.lc.gov.gh/services for “step-by-step guidelines on the online submission and payment process, how to track their applications online, how to access the search reports online and the fee payable for the consolidated search”.
